Chapter 955: Chapter 55: Declaration of War_4
It is precisely for this reason that one must control the situation in the early battlefield, maintaining that delicate balance of ’evenly matched’.
"Let them come back in an hour; I will leave this to you."
"Yes, please rest assured, sir."
The Jonin, serving as Squad Captain, nodded solemnly.
◎
One hour later.
After two rounds of bombing, the building clusters of Windmill Town suffered even more severe destruction. The ground was full of charred dirt clumps, and the power supply facilities on the town’s perimeter were completely annihilated, billowing black smoke into the sky.
Seeing the orderly withdrawal of the Land of Demons’ aerial units, Maki constantly felt something was amiss, but couldn’t pinpoint the issue; perhaps his desire to win was too intense, leading to the illusion that the enemy hadn’t fully exerted itself against Hidden Sand.
Since the Puppet Masters capable of long-range attacks also joined the battle, overall, Hidden Sand held the advantage in this confrontation with the Land of Demons’ aerial units.
Although the advantage was not obvious, with greater losses on the Hidden Sand side, as long as they could hold the line and repel the Land of Demons’ aerial units, to Maki, this would be considered the greatest victory.
Moreover, after two encounters, Maki gained further understanding of the airstrike patterns of the Land of Demons’ aerial units.
"What are the losses?"
Maki saw the Puppet Masters around him summoning back their Puppet Puppets and inquired about the situation.
A Puppet Master smiled wryly and said, "It’s tougher than expected. Although the hardness of the Puppet Puppets rivals steel, the enemy’s firepower is extremely fierce. Especially having to watch out for our attacks, overall, it’s still unsatisfactory. They can only restrain part of the firepower."
Maki sighed as he glanced at the summoned-back Puppets, mostly in a state of disrepair, with the repair work being quite cumbersome.
Facing the uncertainty of when the enemy will next adopt an offensive strategy, it becomes quite troubling.
"This has nothing to do with Maki-sama; mainly it’s our first cooperation, inevitable to have some discrepancies."
The Puppet Master mistakenly thought Maki was blaming himself for operational failures.
In the Puppet Master’s eyes, Maki’s command had allowed their Puppets to avoid friendly fire as much as possible and focus solely on attacking the airborne enemy.
This is primarily due to the time discrepancy in the coordination between the two sides.
This section of time discrepancy can cause their attack trajectories to overlap at times.
The explosive tags on the arrows can encroach upon the attack space of the Puppets, hindering their movements.
This is unavoidable; currently, the only one capable of perfectly solving such a problem is the Yamanaka Clan of Konoha Village.
Able to remotely connect everyone’s spiritual spaces, allowing all ninjas to coordinate perfectly.
This is the gap in talent that no amount of brain power from Maki can compensate for.
Jutsu is a very important skill for ninjas.
If it were Konoha, with the Yamanaka Clan and Nara Clan, facing the Land of Demons’ aerial units wouldn’t be as strenuous as it is for Hidden Sand.
The Yamanaka Clan can conduct tactical chains, while the Nara Clan can serve as the brain, utilizing Shadow Jutsu to restrict the mobility of the Land of Demons’ aerial units.
As long as the shadow of the aircraft is captured by members of the Nara Clan, it implies a risk of crashing.
"I am not worried about these things; for some reason, I always have a sense of foreboding."
Maki sighed.
"Haven’t you already sent people back to the village, Maki-sama? After that, the Kazekage-sama will also take action, correct?"
The Puppet Master spoke.
"The request for reinforcements from the village was made much earlier than originally planned. According to the village’s initial plan, it wasn’t supposed to be such a stalemate with the Land of Demons, but rather, our vanguard unit was expected to deliver a head-on blow, then reinforce with a main force to end the battle once and for all."
However, the current situation is that the Land of Demons has been resisting Hidden Sand very vigorously.
Moreover, the Land of Demons’ aerial units have completely confined them to Windmill Town, leaving them in a dilemma.
This was something Maki hadn’t anticipated.
"Don’t worry, it’s merely about ending this war sooner."
The Puppet Master replied.
The vanguard force, composed of a thousand Hidden Sand ninjas, serves as a probe.
As long as the specific strength of the Land of Demons is explored through probing, then next, it’s time for the Hidden Sand Village to start pressing forward with a massive force, striving to achieve final victory in one round of warfare.
Although the actual situation here has somewhat deviated from the original plan, it does not hinder the overall trajectory.
The stronger the Land of Demons appears, the more Hidden Sand’s reinforcements will deploy earlier, also advancing the conclusion of the war.
To control the scale of the war as much as possible, preventing it from evolving into a comprehensive conflict like the Third Ninja Realm War, a swift defeat is the best solution.
After all, there also needs to be consideration of the stance of neutral countries, and regarding the subsequent interest negotiations, it’s left for the politicians at the Daimyo’s Mansion to step in.
At that point, Hidden Sand Village will also share a piece of the pie.
"Hopefully so. I hope the village decides soon."
Maki nodded; whether to advance or retreat next depends on the village’s decision.
◎
"It’s time to announce the formal declaration of war with the Land of Wind; it’s time to give the domestic residents a complete explanation."
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